Synopsis
by Mark Deming

Jeff Lieberman, celebrated by horror film buffs for his imaginative cult favorites Squirm and Blue Sunshine, returns to filmmaking with this offbeat shocker. It's late October, and Douglas (Alexander Brickel), like most nine-year-olds, is looking forward to Halloween, especially trick or treating. Doug's mother (Amanda Plummer) has made him a costume based on a character from his favorite video game, Satan's Little Helper, and his big sister Jenna (Katheryn Winnick) will be home from college to collect candy with him. But Douglas is angry when Jenna's new boyfriend, Alex (Stephen Graham), tags along, and he soon ditches his sister to go trick or treating alone. While making the rounds, Douglas happens upon a serial killer (Joshua Annex) dressed up like a monster from his video game; Douglas admires the killer's grisly handiwork, and offers to act as his assistant, just like in the game. First Douglas leads the maniac to Alex, whom he soon kills, and then he brings him home, where Jenna and Mom think the masked killer is just Alex in his Halloween costume. Shot on digital video, Satan's Little Helper was screened at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival.